No Longer a Bastard

I

Seventeen years ago

Tower of Joy, Dorne

At first, the sweet smell of the winter roses had welcomed the nose of Eddard Stark, the current Lord of Winterfell after his father and brother's death. Amongst other things, being the Lord of the great keep and warden of the vast lands was not on his wish list. 

As the second son of a Lord, he was expected to rather be a knight or maybe take the black, which was common for Northrons than the Southern people who had no idea about the harsh winter. He was even supposed to be adopted by Jon Arryn and be his heir until the news of his brother and father's death along with the King's warrant for his mentor to surrender him and Robert Baratheon to the capitol.

Jon refused and with that he raised his banners, thus it started Robert's rebellion, he thought it funny that it was Jon who started it but it was named after Robert. But now, after everything he suffered, every fight he survived and every sleepless nights he endured, he finally found his sister.

Then it came, the foul and sickly stench of blood. It lingered much longer than the sweet and delicate scent of the roses.

That's how he found her.

She was laying on the bed, her grey eyes lit up and her thin red lips curved into a small smile at the sight of him; he would have smiled in return if he wasn't troubled with her current state. The white sheets that covered the mattress was soaked with blood and from the sight of it, he knew that she had just given birth just a few hours before he arrived and he silently cursed himself.

He should have expected this, after everything. After the rumours that circulated days after the Prince took her but no, he didn't thought of it at all and he focused on fighting Arthur Dayne instead and in the end he just let the Knight go, telling him that there's no use of him since the Viserys Targaryen was now sailing across the Narrow Sea along with his baby sister.

"Ned."

Her small voice crooked and he immediately kneeled before her, taking her tiny hands that were almost freezing. He gently lifted his hand on her face brushing away the lose tendrils of her brown hair away from her cheeks and tried to keep himself from breaking down. He had lost too much now, his brother and father, now he can't lose her too. Not yet. He didn't even mind the two babes peacefully resting on their mother's bosom, his sister's arm protectively draped over them keeping them from falling.

"Lya...."

It was all he can manage to say as the tears slowly stung his eyes. He felt his heart breaking at the moment. He cursed Rhaegar Targaryen and wished that it was him who killed him instead of his friend but there was no use, he was dead. He won't be coming back but then Ned still failed to save his sister, it was too late. She'll be gone soon.

"I'm sorry.... I know that it is wrong but I loved him Ned. I loved him. I went with him willingly, had I known that this would result to war; I should have told you the truth. I'm sorry if I caused father and Brandon's death. I'm sorry." Lyanna sobbed, gasping every now and then and stopping at every word. She was dying. He knew of that. Judging on the paleness of her skin and the amount of blood she lost, she wouldn't last in minutes. He knew it.

"Robert was never meant to be a good husband Ned..."

She laughed at her words and it struck him that his sister had no love for his friend, the man who was deeply in love with her, enough to wage a war for her honour, well, not that it was only for Lyanna's cause but the war was also because of the injustice and brutality of the Mad King sitting on top of the Iron Throne. For a moment, Ned Stark seen to have gone deaf and dumb. He does not know what to say to his dying sister. All he wants was just to savour the last moments he will have with her.